Cunning Clarke runs away with NAB League Girls Best & Fairest
ONLY a few days removed from her best afield Grand Final performance, Dandenong Stingrays speedster Amber Clarke has taken out the 2022 NAB League Girls Best & Fairest medal, at the elite talent pathway’s yearly award ceremony on Tuesday night. During the online event, recipients of the NAB League Girls Community Award and Team of the Year honours were also announced.
>> SCROLL for all award winners and Team of the Year
Clarke’s teammate, Sarah Hosking took out the Community Award for her outstanding displays of leadership and contribution to the community. The 19th-year prospect overcame a long-term knee injury in 2021 to make this year’s Vic Country squad and enjoy a breakout season with the ‘Rays.
But for her outstanding top-age campaign, Clarke was the star of the show and earned the Best & Fairest nod with 20 votes – one more than Team of the Year captain Charlotte Baskaran. Northern Knights bottom-ager Ava Jordan placed third with 14 votes, while Hawthorn AFLW draftee Bridget Deed (10) and top Tasmanian talent Claire Ransom (nine) rounded out the top five.
All five leading vote getters featured in the 2022 NAB League Girls Team of the Year, which is lead by Baskaran (captain) and Ransom (vice-captain). Aside from Ransom, fellow Tasmanian Georgia Clark, and New South Wales pair Zarlie Goldsworthy and Zara Hamilton, the 24-player squad is essentially a Vic Country and Metro mashup.
Baskaran is joined by premiership teammate Montana Ham on the followers line, with the pair proving inseparable throughout their NAB League Girls careers. Western was among five regions to boast three representatives in the side, along with grand finalist Dandenong, Eastern, Murray, and Sandringham.
In a glimpse towards the future, Jordan was the sole bottom-ager to feature, while Bendigo’s Lucia Painter is the sole 2006-born prospect in the team. A remarkable effort. As far as over-agers go, Deed, Elizabeth Dowling (Geelong) and Erin Woodford (Oakleigh) made the most of another go in the top talent pathway.
Earlier today, Goldsworthy was named the 2022 Rookie Me Central Medal winner, taking out this year’s count with 34 votes ahead of Baskaran (32). Painter, Ham and Deed rounded out our top five, and all players are also set to feature in the Rookie Me Central NAB League Girls Team of the Year.
2022 NAB LEAGUE GIRLS TEAM OF THE YEAR
B: Molly Walton (GWV) – Erin Woodford (Oakleigh) – Laura Elliott (Western)
HB: Abbey McDonald (Calder) – Mackenzie Eardley (Dandenong) – Mia Busch (Eastern)
C: Zara Hamilton (Murray) – Zarlie Goldsworthy (Murray) – Claire Ransom (Tasmania), VC
HF: Jasmine Fleming (Oakleigh) – Bridie Hipwell (Sandringham) – Amber Clarke (Dandenong)
F: Ava Jordan (Northern) – Georgia Clark (Tasmania) – Charley Ryan (Dandenong)
FOL: Mia Austin (Eastern) – Montana Ham (Western) – Charlotte Baskaran (Western), C
INT: Lucia Painter (Bendigo), Bridget Deed (Eastern), Keeley Skepper (Murray), Sofia Hurley (Sandringham), Georgia Foran (Sandringham), Elizabeth Dowling (Geelong)
2022 NAB League Girls Best & Fairest: Amber Clarke (Dandenong Stingrays)
2022 NAB League Girls Community Award: Sarah Hosking (Dandenong Stingrays)
2024 SANFLW Player Focus: Grace Martin (WWT Eagles)
WOODVILLE-WEST Torrens midfielder Grace Martin is quietly flying under the radar in the 2024 SANFL Women’s season. The top-age Eagles midfielder was prominent playing on-ball in the loss to Glenelg, racking up seven clearances and seven inside 50s to go with her 10 tackles and 19 disposals. Not the largest accumulator and Martin can tend […]
2024 Coates Talent League Girls: Round 3 wrap
TWO Northern Academy sides entered the Coates Talent League Girls competition in Round 3 as the weekend’s action extended out to seven games in a blockbuster weekend of action. We recap the standouts and how each match went down.
Scouting Notes: 2024 Young Guns vs. Vic Metro
REPRESENTATIVE and mid-season draft auditions rolled on in Victoria as the Young Guns took on Vic Metro at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday. It was the 2005-born squad which defeated its younger counterpart by 42 points, and we were on hand to note some of the standout players. YOUNG GUNS 15.11 (101) def. VIC METRO […]
2024 AFLW Under 16s All-Australian team announced
CHAMPIONS South Australia have topped the 2024 AFL Women’s Under 16s All-Australian team nominations with with seven players, four more than any other state or Academy. Behind the Croweaters was the likes of Brisbane Lions Academy, Vic Country and Western Australia who all had three, making up 16 of the 23 players. GWS Giants Academy […]
VFL Player Focus: Jack Hutchinson (Collingwood)
COLLINGWOOD forward Jack Hutchinson has emerged as one of the top mid-season draft candidates after a promising start to his maiden VFL season. The 22-year-old was recruited from Wonthaggi and has caught the eye with extraordinary high marking exploits. Hutchinson booted two goals in Collingwood’s Round 4 defeat to Coburg, which broke the Lions’ 23-game […]
2024 SANFLW R7 wrap: South sends ominous message
SOUTH Adelaide is back in a big way in the SANFL Women’s competition, winning its fourth straight match in the 2024 season, this time the grand final rematch. The Panthers proved too strong for Central District, booting the first five goals of the match and containing the Dogs to just two majors for the match […]
WAFLW R8 wrap: Bulldogs back in top four after Subi squeeze
REIGNING preliminary finalist South Fremantle is back in business after winning its third consecutive match, and fourth in five games to sit inside the top four on the WAFL Women’s ladder. The Bulldogs have lost to the top three sides but beaten the bottom four teams at the midway point of the season with seventh […]
PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS | Emma Juneja (Swans Academy)
SYDNEY Swans Academy winger Emma Juneja is a top-ager with some eye-catching traits from her burst speed, sidestep and positioning that helps her impact games. A member of the AFL Women’s Academy, the talented runner stepped out for the Swans for the first time against Gippsland Power on the weekend, and was one of the […]
SANFL U18s Player Focus: Louie Montgomery (North Adelaide)
PORT Adelaide father-son prospect Louie Montgomery helped spark North Adelaide’s third win by under a goal on the SANFL Under 18s season, as the Roosters held on to beat Sturt by two points on Saturday. The defender’s pair of second half goals saw his side hit the front early in term four. Montgomery’s speed and […]
